The two women of Hot Banana Games have created Moon Bunny, a second title in their business venture to design and sell "culturally rich games that evoke nostalgia and spark curiosity about Asian culture."
Pauline Kong, a Surrey nurse and resident, and pal Marie Wong, who lives in Richmond, launched their latest board game on Kickstarter, raising more than $226,000 from close to 3,000 backers on the crowdfunding platform, to help to bring the project to life.
Inspired by Moon Festival folklore, the game sees players guide their "bunny alchemist assistants through the lunar landscape to gather rare Asian herbs and craft the ultimate elixir of life."
Five years ago, Kong and Wong conceptualized Steam Up, a game based on the Chinese breakfast/lunch feast of dim sum.
"When we started this (Hot Banana Games), we realized that in the board game industry there aren't many Asian-themed games," recalled Kong. "So we designed (Steam Up), tested it and put it up on a crowdfunding platform. We received a lot of support and raised close to $1.1 million total."
Of the two, Kong is "the creative mastermind" and people-focused marketer, while Wong has skills as a product designer.
Crowdfunding is used to finance the design, creation, manufacturing and marketing of their games.
"Those are the supporters who back you and the game," Kong noted. "You ask for their support for funding and then in return, we'll give them a game, with different tiers like the standard edition, a collector's edition. We give that back to them as a thank-you for investing."
On Sept. 17, the pair brought a prototype of Moon Bunny to the Now-Leader office for a demonstration.
The game is based on Asian folklore where a bunny hops around the moon collecting different types of herbs to make elixirs. "That's one side of the folklore," Kong explained. "The other one is using the herbs, the ingredients, to make moon cakes.
"So, how did the bunny become the moon bunny? There's a legend saying that there's this spiritual man who came down to earth and said, 'Oh, I'm very hungry' to the bunny, a jackal and a monkey. The monkey went to grab some fruits, the jackal grabbed some fish and then the bunny said, 'I don't have anything to give you, but I will offer you myself.' So then the bunny threw itself into the fire. Because of his altruism, the self-sacrifice, the spiritual man was thankful and wanted to praise and worship the bunny."
Moon Bunny includes mini moon cakes (not edible), takes up to 60 minutes to play and ends when no more tiles can be replenished. The player with the most points wins.
In today's saturated board game market, Kong and Wong say they're working to get noticed with titles that shed light on Asian culture.
"For example," Wong said, "Friends of mine have kids and they want their kids to start connecting back to their culture and this is a fun way of doing that, with this one and also Steam Up. Even if people don't know anything about the moon bunny folklore, they can still play and enjoy the game, and they'll start asking questions about it. It's educational as well."
The market numbers seem daunting.
"We know there are a lot of board games out there, and lots of people playing them as well," Wong added. "There are around 1,000 new games released every year, more and more. Ours are a bit different, being focused on Asian culture, a niche. The board game market is already a niche, and we have a niche within that niche. That's how we find the audience we are looking for."
